CRAFT FIX - Sunday, November 30th, Kittery, Maine!

Join me and 19 other local artists and craftspeople at Buoy Gallery in Kittery for the amazing annual Craft Fix!

10am - 5pm 

2 Government Street

(gallery space attached to The Black Birch)

More info & RSVP

**SAME DAY BONUS: Art on the Hill's open studios, Folk (darling little shop around the corner) anniversary celebration and Doo salon (across the street) Wrong Brain craft fair are all at the same time! 

**WEATHER BONUS: the forecast is 50°!

This Needs No Explanation

Open House This Sunday - Dec. 22nd

Since Mother Nature doesn't seem to be cooperating with my craft show plans this year (snowstorms have thwarted two events), I'm taking matters into my own hands and setting up shop in my living room this Sunday from noon until 3pm. 

I have lots of handmade jewelry ready for gift giving and stocking stuffing, so I hope you can stop by to do a little last-minute shopping. I'll even gift wrap for you!

It'll be a laid back afternoon with light refreshments and a beautiful view on Bullfrog Lane. Please feel free to bring a friend or two! You can preview a sampling of my work on Etsy. Much more will be available in person.

Sunday, December 22nd, 2013

Noon - 3pm

4 Bullfrog Lane (just off Scituate Road)

York, Maine

Map & Directions

Cash, checks and credit cards are all welcome. Please RSVP on Facebook if you think you can make it and help spread the word. Thanks and hope to see you! 

Lofted Designs Marks 600th Etsy Sale

I kind of want to throw a party and do a happy dance, but it's really busy right now up in the loft so I'm just going to write this quick blog post and have my own private party while I make more jewelry.

I JUST HIT 600 SALES ON ETSY!!!!

In case you're wondering, the 600th sale was a customer in Canada purchasing a personalized birthstone necklace. Thank you to ALL of my wonderful customers for helping me reach this milestone!

Pop-Up Holiday Fair in York, Maine

Remember that amazing 3S Artspace event a couple of years ago at the Nevada Motel in York Beach, Maine, when artists took over individual motel rooms and created incredibly innovative installation pieces? This is not that. But it's a pretty great idea in its own right. 

This Tuesday night in York, Maine, local artists will host a pop-up holiday show in the guest rooms at the Inn at Ridge Road in York, Maine.

December 3rd, 2013

6:30 pm - 9ish

The Inn at Ridge Road

281 Ridge Road

York, ME 03909

Light refreshments and wine will be available, as well as lots of beautiful locally-made gifts. Some of the vendors include:

Sew Happy Designs

Twig Candles

Ocean Fire Pottery

Katlyns Handmade Crafts

Treehugger Designs

Just Bee Skinfood & Soap

...and of course me! Lofted Designs

Spread the word and come on by! Hope to see you there.

Holiday Food and Gift Fair - Portland, Maine 11/30

When and Where:

November 30th, 2013

11am - 6pm

FREE admission!

58 Fore Street, Portland, ME

I'll be bringing along a new assortment of Lofted Designs necklaces and earrings (seaglass, beach stones, sterling silver, vintage buttons and more!), plus new bracelet designs, new ring designs, and a great assortment of pet tags. If you haven't seen me in person in awhile, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I actually plan to get most of my holiday shopping done at this show...it shouldn't be difficult. I'll be in great company with these incredible Maine-based food and gift vendors (this is just a small sampling of the booths I'm looking forward to checking out – there will be many more):

Casco Bay Butter Co. – All-natural artisan butters made from local dairy farm cream.

'Cue Culture – Small batched barbecue sauces

Dean's Sweets – Amazing hand-dipped truffles. Enough said.

Flowfold – Durable wallets & bags handmade from sailcloth

Jared DiSimio Maker – Bags & accessories made from vintage, antique and salvaged materials, each with a story to tell. 

Vena's Fizz House - Mixology Shop and Natural Soda Bar

Morris & Essex – The most stunningly designed & silkscreened, letterpressed and block-printed goods I have ever laid eyes on. Shirts, cards, scarves, bags and more. I want everything Eliza makes. All of the things.

Maine Blanket – 100% grass-fed sheep's wool blankets, solar hand-dyed in seawater and woven on antique looms. How cool is that? 

Baobab Organics – Sustainable, organic cotton clothing for kids

Fiber and Water – Natural burlap wall art featuring hand-pressed designs.

You can find more info and RSVP on their Facebook event page. Hope to see you there!

Down East Magazine's Maine-Made Gift Guide

Exciting news from Lofted Designs headquarters!!! Our pet tags are being featured as part of Down East Magazine's 2013 Maine-Made Holiday Gift Guide!

(I created this sweet little badge to commemorate the occasion!)

Down East is known as the magazine of Maine, evoking and illuminating the spirit and culture of my great state and available at newsstands and stores nationwide.

The publication approached me in the early fall about the possibility of featuring Lofted Designs pet tags and I mailed off five ID tags to their editorial team for review.

Thanks to the USPS for helping me make the submission deadline!

Ultimately, they selected three of the pet tags ("squirrel chaser," "i ❤ maine," and "stinky breath") to feature on their Furry Friend gift page.

There's a lot going on in this collage of creativity, but Lofted Designs is #1 in the upper left corner!

Here's a snapshot with our tags highlighted to help you find them.

And a close-up!

If you can't quite read the tags in print, luckily they were kind enough to also feature them online with a link to my Etsy shop! Here's a link to all 133 of their Maine-made gift selections online.

Down East has been in print for nearly 60 years! I am so honored and thrilled to be part of this time-honored publication with a readership of more than 400,000 people. Be sure to pick up a copy, available on newsstands this week!

You're Invited This Sunday – Local Shopping at its Best

Greetings, early holiday shoppers! If you are ready to get a jump start on your gifting, I've got the perfect event for you. This Sunday, I am honored to be participating in an Open House event in York, Maine. Local artist Laurie Wallace is once again opening her home for this wonderful event and I hope to see YOU there!

Sunday, November 3rd

1:00 - 4:30 pm

31 Avon Avenue (off Long Sands Rd.)

York, Maine

(click for directions)

Lofted Designs will be there with gifts for everyone on your list: a new assortment of handmade necklaces, earrings, tie bars, sterling silver rings in many sizes, pet tags and handcrafted collars. Enjoy complimentary refreshments and wine! 

---

OTHER PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Laurie Wallace -- Hand-Spun Knits by Laurie
Gorgeous and soft hobo gloves, alpaca cowl neck scarves, alpaca hats and more! So much care goes into these lovely pieces.

Amy Clark -- Ocean Fire Pottery

One of my favorite local artists, Amy makes beautiful handcrafted wheelthrown stoneware. Preview items on her website or Facebook page. 

Erin Donovan -- Twig Naturals
Handmade candles, coasters and cards — they're all gorgeous and make wonderful gifts!

Janice & Pam -- Gingerloo Cookies 

All-natural cookies baked in small batches locally. Visit their website or Facebook page to learn more (and to drool over gorgeous cookie photos).

***Please note:

This is my only planned show for the holiday season (so far). More may be added, but this is the only one that's been confirmed. Don't miss your chance to shop Lofted Designs in person for the holidays!

Freeport Fall Festival - This Weekend, September 28-29

This coming weekend, Saturday (10am-4pm) and Sunday (11am-4pm), head on up to Freeport, Maine for some glorious weather, fantastic shopping, and fabulous handmade goods at the 15th Annual Freeport Fall Festival!

More than 60 local artists will be exhibiting and selling their work, including photographers, painters, mixed media artists, jewelers, book artists, woodworkers, potters and other super crafty people. Lofted Designs will have a booth (#72 on the map) along the edge of L.L.Bean's Discovery Park – directly between the giant Bean Boot and the main stage. Catch live music throughout the weekend, plus they've added a new Maine food lineup this year! The two-day event is free, parking is easy and the forecast looks PERFECT.

Seriously, people, it does not get any better than this:

If the Fall Festival isn't incentive enough to visit Freeport, there are also hundreds of great stores, outlets, and boutiques located within a couple of blocks. C'mon guys, even I can't resist a North Face sample sale. And if shopping all weekend sounds like a total bummer and you'd rather just be outside, come check out the festival and then participate in Great Maine Outdoor Weekend or bring a lawn chair and take in some short adventure films at the Maine Outdoor Film Fest right on the L.L.Bean Campus at 7pm on Saturday. 

For detailed event information, check out the Freeport Fall Festival online brochure, visit their website or their Facebook event page.

Picnic Music + Arts Festival - August 24th, 2013

So much time, so little to do. No wait. Scratch that. Reverse it. 

The 6th Annual Picnic Music + Arts Festival (in my opinion, the very best arts event in Portland) is right around the corner, and I'm busy making TONS of new handcrafted jewelry and pet accessories for this event. Get a sneak peek of what you'll find at the Lofted Designs booth by visiting my Etsy shop!

The Details:

Saturday, August 24th – 11am - 6pm 

Lincoln Park, Portland, Maine (corner of Congress and Franklin)

Rain or shine (but let's all hope for shine)

There will be live music! (view schedule)

Preview all the amazing vendors! Hope to see you there.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Not all dads are cut from the same cloth. Trust me, I know. As someone with a very unique dad, I've spent years wading through Father's Day cards featuring beer-guzzling, remote-control-hogging, grilling, golfing, football fan dads. Nothing ever seems to apply to my own father. I actually find it really hard to believe that the majority of American dads are fitting those stereotypes, but typical card store shelves are proving me wrong once again this year.

My own father isn't into any of the above activities, but instead is a health-nut, magician, dog lover, antique toy collector and goofball. He's interested in vintage tattoo flash art, classic Disney, reality TV and sideshow freaks, among many other things. (And now you probably understand me a bit better.)

This year my father is getting this card (spoiler alert, Dad!) from Smudge Ink, which I was delighted to find at Gus and Ruby Letterpress in Portsmouth, NH. It's so weird...just like my dad!

Yeah, my dad totally had a pair of these glasses when I was a kid.

Anyway, my point is that all dads are not alike, and sometimes a set of golf tees or grilling tools just won't fit the bill. Lofted Designs handmade accessories to the rescue!

Does your dad dress nicely, and perhaps read GQ or Esquire magazine? These stylish sterling silver tie bars make a great gift for fashionable dads, and if you order quickly I can customize one just for your pop with a special message on the back.

For pops who love pets, maybe a gift from the dog is just the thing! Daddy's girl and daddy's boy pet tags are in stock and ready to ship with heart, paw and bone cut-outs. 

And if all else fails, just give him a call on Father's Day and tell him how much you appreciate him. No matter what type of dad you have, he's sure to love the gift of hearing your voice.

Dover Arts Market - Debuting Sunday, June 2nd

I am very excited to announce that Lofted Designs will be part of the inaugural Dover Arts Market this coming weekend, a brand new juried, outdoor artisan and fine arts market!

This Sunday, June 2nd (and every Sunday through October), you can find a very talented group of artists, crafters, painters, potters, sewers, and more gathered in the Cocheco Millworks Courtyard at 421 Central Avenue in Dover, New Hampshire.

SUNDAY, JUNE 2nd

9am - 3pm

The Dover, New Hampshire arts market is the newest in a well-established series of reputable artisan events run by Katy Solsky, who has been operating the Concord Arts Market for six years. She is all about quality and variety, so you can expect to discover some really great handmade finds!

Katy is also (quite ambitiously) starting up the Claremont Arts Market this summer. And all this in addition to launching her own fabulous new company Simple City Dress featuring handmade skirts, dresses and more. Simple City Dress will make its market debut this weekend at both the Concord Arts Market on Saturday and the new Dover Arts Market on Sunday.

You can read more about the Dover Arts Market in this recent Seacoast Online article. Hope to see you there this Sunday!

Buy Local Open House – Sunday, December 2nd

This coming Sunday, December 2nd from 12 - 5 pm, I am honored to be participating in an Open House Holiday Extravaganza event at Ocean Fire Pottery in York, Maine.

Each year, Amy Clark of Ocean Fire Pottery invites her favorite artisans to display their goods at her studio and this year Lofted Designs is invited! I'll be ready with a table full of necklaces, earrings, tie bars for men, sterling silver rings, pet tags and leather dog collars (made by my husband Patrick). There will also be refreshments, pottery mini-lessons, wool spinning demos, and kids art activities throughout the day!

A sampling of Lofted Designs jewelry

Other participants include:

Amy Clark – Ocean Fire Pottery (our gracious hostess)
One of my favorite local artists, Amy makes incredible handcrafted wheelthrown stoneware and combines elements of the earth to create functional art that evokes joy every day. I am the proud owner of several Ocean Fire Pottery pieces. You can preview her creations on her website or check out her Facebook page.

Laurie Wallace – Hand-Spun Knits by Laurie
Handspun items including hobo gloves, soft alpaca cowl neck scarves and hats, handwoven belts and dog leashes.

Erin Donovan – Twig Naturals
All-natural, hand poured soy candles scented with essential oils that smell amazing! Erin also makes beautiful lightboxes, collaged original art, coasters, and gorgeous pocket mirrors that would make perfect stocking stuffers. 

The Details:

Sunday, 12/2/12

12:00 - 5:00 pm

23 Woodbridge Road, York, Maine

Click here for directions

Click here to RSVP

* Plenty of parking is available at Kennebunk Savings Bank, diagonally across the street from the studio

Bazaar Bizarre Boston Features Lofted Designs

What an honor! What an exciting time! The Bazaar Bizarre Boston has featured Lofted Designs on their blog!! (And yes, I am blogging about a blog.)

I haven’t even announced my participation in this event yet because I am still pinching myself, but I am very pleased to tell you that I’ll be a vendor at Bazaar Bizarre Boston this December 16th! Read the full interview here and learn everything you need to know about shopping at this fantastic event on their Shopper Info page.

This show will be HUGE and I can't even believe I will be there with all these other amazing vendors. Until then, I'm signing off because I've got a LOT of things to make. :)

The Big Thaw - Saturday, May 12th

If you live in the Portland, Maine area and you forgot to buy Mom a gift, you're in luck! The Big Thaw is this Saturday. As in tomorrow. As in the day before Mother's Day. And it's the perfect place to find something unique and awesome that will rock her world and show her how thoughtful you are.

Here are a few ideas to get you started – there will be more than 30 incredibly talented vendors there besides me though, so come see for yourself.

What mom wouldn't love these super sparkly "diamond" earrings. OK, so they're CZ's in sterling silver settings, but hey, for a mere $18 you'll still have enough cash left over to get her some flowers to go with her sparkles.

Some new necklace designs will be premiering at The Big Thaw. These are a combination of my always-popular bubble necklaces and my one-of-a-kind beach stone necklaces. Bubbles meet the beach. The bubbles are drilled through the stone, and they swing and move in a fun way.

Need an adorable Mother's Day gift from the dog? How about one of these handmade heavy-duty aluminum dog tags?

And, just in case you have already covered your Mother's Day bases and are already shopping for Father's Day next month...well, I've just started making sterling silver tie bars for savvy, stylish gentlemen. Something for everyone!

Here's the nitty gritty: 

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012 

Time: 10am - 4pm 

Place: Mayo Street Arts Center, Portland, Maine 

Directions 

Check out the complete list of vendors.
RSVP on Facebook here.
Amazing organizer Audrey of Little Eye Designs has been posting daily vendor spotlights here.

I'll be downstairs (in the basement), so come find me and say hello! Hope to see you there.